Miami Dade Artificial Reef Program Gulf' title='Miami Dade Artificial Reef Program Gulf' />Florida Reef Wikipedia. Startup Manager Ubuntu Download there. Three dimensional map of southern Florida showing the Florida Reef in red. The Florida Reef also known as the Great Florida Reef, Florida reefs, Florida Reef Tract and Florida Keys Reef Tract is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States. It is the third largest coral barrier reef system in the world after the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef. It lies a few miles seaward of the Florida Keys, is about 4 miles 6 to 7 km wide and extends along the 2. Fowey Rocks just east of Soldier Key to just south of the Marquesas Keys. The barrier reef tract forms a great arc, concentric with the Florida Keys, with the northern end, in Biscayne National Park, oriented north south and the western end, south of the Marquesas Keys, oriented east west. The rest of the reef outside Biscayne National Park lies within John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Isolated coral patch reefs occur northward from Biscayne National Park as far as Stuart, in Martin County. Osisoft Pi Client Tools. Miami has become a WRECKREATIONAL diving destination that is destined to become another Miami Vice for visitors and residents. With its close proximity to the. The National Wildlife Federations family of magazines include National Wildlife, Ranger Rick, Ranger Rick Jr., and Ranger Rick Cub. Coral reefs are also found in Dry Tortugas National Park west of the Marquesas Keys. There are more than 6,0. The reefs are 5,0. Wisconsinan glaciation. The densest and most spectacular reefs are found to the seaward of Key Largo in and beyond John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and Elliott Key where the two long keys help protect the reefs from the effects of water exchange with Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, Card Sound and Barnes Sound. The bays and sounds all between the Florida Keys and the mainland tend to have lower salinity, higher turbidity and wider temperature variations than the water in the open ocean. Channels between the Keys allow water from the bays to flow onto the reefs especially in the middle Keys, limiting their growth. Reef structure and communitieseditThe Florida Reef consists of two ridges separated from the Florida Keys by the Hawk Channel. Closest to the Keys is a sand ridge called White Bank, covered by large beds of sea grass, with patch reefs scattered across it. Further out to sea on the edge of the Florida Straits is the second ridge forming the outer reefs, covered by reefs and hard banks composed of coral rubble and sand. Almost 1,4. Florida Reef. The Florida Reef lies close to the northern limit for tropical corals, but the species diversity on the reef is comparable to that of reef systems in the Caribbean Sea. The Florida Museum of Natural History defines three communities on the Florida reefs. The hardbottom community lies closest to the Florida Keys and consists primarily of algae, sea fans gorgonians and stony corals growing on limestone rock that has a thin covering of sand. The stony corals in hardbottom communities include Smooth Starlet coral Siderastrea radians, Mustard Hill Coral Porites astreoides, Golfball coral Favia fragum, Elliptical Star coral Dichocoenia stokesii and Common Brain coral Diploria strigosa. Hardbottom provides habitat for anemones, mollusks, crabs, spiny lobsters, seastars, sea cucumbers, tunicates and various fish, including grunts Haemulon spp., snappers Lutjanus spp., groupers Epinephelus spp., tangs Acanthurus coeruleus, Ocean surgeon Acanthurus bahianus and Great barracuda Spyraena barracuda. Second is the patch reef community. Patch reefs form in shallow water three to six meters deep, some in Hawk Channel and some on the outer reef, but mainly on White Bank between Hawk Channel and the outer reefs. Patch reefs start from corals growing on a hard bottom, but grow upward as new corals establish themselves on the skeletons of dead corals. Most of the structure of patch reefs is formed from star Montastraea annularis, Siderastrea siderea and brain corals Diploria spp. Other corals attach wherever there is an opening. Patch reefs may grow up to the surface of the water, and spread outwards. Dome type patch reefs such as Hen and Chickens, found in Hawk Channel and on White Bank, are round or elliptical, and are generally less than three meters high, but may reach up to nine meters high. Dome type patch reefs are surrounded by sand which is kept clear due to browsing by long spined sea urchins and grass eating fish. Linear type patch reefs are found on the outer reefs, and are linear or curved. They occur in single or multiple rows, trending the same direction as the bank reefs on the outer reefs. Linear type patch reefs often include Elkhorn coral, which is rare on the dome type patch reefs. As dead coral skeletons age and are weakened by the activities of boring sponges, worms, and mollusks and by wave action, parts of a patch reef may collapse. Cossacks 2 Napoleonic Wars Patch. Patch reefs provide habitat for spiny lobsters and for many species of fish, including Bluehead wrasse Thalassoma bifasciatum, damselfish Chromis spp., Ocean surgeon, French and Queen angelfish Pomacanthus spp., White, Caesar and Spanish grunts Haemulon ssp., Yellowtail and other snappers, Redband and Stoplight parrotfish Sparisoma ssp., Sergeant major Abudefduf saxatilis, Tomtate Haemulon aurolineatum, Trumpetfish Aulostomus maculatus, filefish, groupers, snappers, Bar jack Caranx ruber, Great barracuda, pufferfish, squirrelfish, cardinalfish, and green morays Gymnothorax funebris. Elkhorn coral Acropora palmata on Molasses Reef. Third is the bank reef community. Bank reefs are larger than patch reefs and are found on the outer reefs. Bank reefs consist of three zones. The reef flat is closest to the keys, and consists of coralline algae growing on fragments of coral skeletons. Further out to sea are the spur and groove formations, low ridges of coral the spurs separated by channels with sand bottoms the grooves. The shallowest parts of the spurs support fire corals and zoanthids. Starting at five or six feet deep, Elkhorn, star, and brain corals are the most important members of the community. Various types of gorgonians are also common. Beyond the spur and groove zone is the forereef, which slopes down to the deeps. The upper forereef is dominated by star coral. At greater depths plate like corals dominate, and then as the available light fades, sponges and non reef building corals become common. Bank reefs provide habitat for various fishes, including French angelfish, Blue and Queen parrotfish, Queen triggerfish Balistes vetula, Rock beauties Holacanthus tricolor, Goatfish Parupeneus cyclostomus, Porkfish Anisotremus virginicus and snappers. The sand found around and in the Florida Reef is composed of shell, coral skeleton and limestone fragments. Other common species of hard coral found on the Florida Reef include Ivory Bush Coral Oculina diffusa, which is the dominant coral in the patch reefs along the Florida coast north of the Florida Keys, Staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis, Lettuce Coral Agaricia agaricites, Grooved Brain Coral Diploria labyrinthiformis, Boulder Star Coral Monstastrea annularis, Great Star Coral M. Clubbed Finger Coral Porites porites and Massive Starlet Coral Siderastrea siderea. Individual reefseditNotable individual reefs in the Florida reef system include Threats to the reefsedit. Staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis on Looe Key.